A full shelf of cold Four ƒLoko, the 23.5-ounce cans that contain the candy-flavored malt liquor, were on sale at White Palaceƒ Liquors on Silver Avenue until a Chronicle reporter asked a worker if he was aware of the ban.
The worker, who declined to give his last name, said he forgot to pull the $2.75 drinks before Monday, and quickly put a piece of tape across the cans with a sign that read, "Not for sale," before telling another employee to remove the drinks.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

A full shelf of cold Four ƒLoko, the 23.5-ounce cans that contain...

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A full shelf of cold Four ƒLoko, the 23.5-ounce cans that contain the candy-flavored malt liquor, were on sale at White Palaceƒ Liquors on Silver Avenue until a Chronicle reporter asked a worker if he was aware of the ban.
The worker, who declined to give his last name, said he forgot to pull the $2.75 drinks before Monday, and quickly put a piece of tape across the cans with a sign that read, "Not for sale," before telling another employee to remove the drinks.

Alcoholic energy drinks marketed at younger consumers were available at several San Francisco liquor stores Monday, despite a federal deadline to remove the caffeine-infused beverages or face criminal charges.

Plenty of cold, 23.5-ounce cans of Four Loko, a candy-flavored malt liquor, were on sale at White Palace Liquors on Silver Avenue until a reporter asked a worker if he was aware of the ban.

The worker said he forgot to pull the $2.75 drinks before Monday, and quickly put a piece of tape across a shelf full of the cans with a sign that read, "Not for sale," before telling another employee to remove the drinks.

"We don't want to sell this crap," said the worker, who gave his name only as Ray.

After four states including California banned the products this fall, the Food and Drug Administration gave retailers nationwide until Dec. 13 to rid their shelves of the drinks. The federal agency declared them unsafe because their stiff mix of caffeine and booze left users in a prolonged state of "wide-awake drunk."

Misdemeanor offense

Critics nicknamed the drinks "blackout in a can."

Retailers who continue to sell brands such as Joose, Max, High Gravity and Moonshot face misdemeanor criminal charges, fines and possible suspension of their liquor licenses, according to the California Department of Public Health. The agency considers the beverages an illegal "adulterated food."

But precisely when those penalties will be doled out is a source of concern for some advocates who fought to get the drinks banned.

State officials sent letters to retailers across California on Nov. 17 ordering the immediate removal of the products. San Francisco sent similar letters to stores in the city.

Yet on Monday, almost a month later, stores including Xpress Market on O'Farrell Street continued to sell Joose, and the Maryland Market on Leavenworth Street stocked a display case with tall silver cans of High Gravity. Workers at both stores declined to comment.

Matt Rosen, a senior director of community programs at the Youth Leadership Institute in San Francisco who testified against the products at state hearings this year, said that even though the drinks were still available in pockets around the city, most stores were complying with the law.

"In general this is a victory," Rosen said. "But the message still obviously needs to get communicated more clearly to liquor store owners: They need to pull these products now."

Patrick Kennelly, chief of the food safety section at the state Department of Public Health, said enforcement against scofflaw store owners could start within weeks.

The past month served as an unofficial grace period for distributors to collect their remaining products and for retailers to empty stocks, Kennelly said. He said distributors have complied with the state's demands, and no one has stood up to defend the sale of the products.

Hot sellers on eBay

Kennelly said inspectors would now need to determine whether offending liquor stores are purposely trying to capitalize on the illegal sales of drinks such as Four Loko, which because of its scarcity is fetching $10 a can on Craigslist and eBay.

"It comes down to whether these are clerks working part time who honestly didn't know they were selling illegal products," Kennelly said, "or if there was some evidence that owners of the stores were purposely trying to profit from something they know is illegal to sell."

In San Francisco, some liquor store owners who removed the hot-selling drinks said they were sorry to see them go.

Pitch to young crowd

Marwan Aburahma, owner of Star Market on Geary Street, said he used to sell 15 to 20 cans of Four Loko a night, mostly to college-age customers.

"The young people love them," Aburahma said. "Now I guess they just have to move back to beer."

Several of the manufacturers said they would reissue the brands without the caffeine or added stimulants to fall within federal law.

Rosen said the companies were still marketing to young drinkers with products that are "cheap, sweet and easy to chug."

"But as you get older," Rosen said, "you realize how disgusting and dangerous this stuff is and you stop drinking them."